Loop fabric stitching machine



4 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEYS J. J. FEDEVICH LOOP FABRIC STITCHING MACHINEm m. N

w M 5E MM W W m Y J M4 M15 E s L J ix Y "u I T" B T I t hLINI June 9,1959 Filed April 28, 1955 June 9, 1959 J. J. FEDEVICH 2,889,791

LOOP FABRIC STITCHING MACHINE Filed April 28, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.2

I3 69 3 INVENTOR.

JOSEPH J. FEDEVICH ATTORNEYS June 9, 1959 Y J. J. FEDEVICH 2,889,791

LOOP FABRIC STITCHING MACHINE Filed April 28, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 5oINVENTOR. HG TJOSEPH J. FEDEVICH ATTORNEYS June 9, 1959 J, FEDEVlCH2,889,791

LOOP FABRIC STITCHING MACHINE Filed April 28, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 27av 22* j 22 SW FIG. ID

FIG. II

INVENTOR.

Q JOSEPH J. FEDEVICH ATTORNEYS United States Patent LOOP FABRICSTITCHING MACHINE Joseph J. Fetlevich, Canton, Ohio Application April28, 1955, Serial No. 504,524

8 Claims. (Cl. 11279) The invention relates to stitching machines forproviding a fabric backing with a looped pile surface, and moreparticularly to an improved machine for rapidly and continuouslystitching a relatively wide fabric web or strip to provide deep pileloop fabrics suitable for floor, wall and upholstery coverings.

In such machines the fabric web is pulled through the machine under oneor more transverse rows of closely spaced needles threaded with separatethreads or cords and moving down and up through the fabric web at ratesof 1500 or more strokes per minute. The needles move a predetermineddistance below the fabric web between grating :bars supporting the web,and picker arms below the Web move between the needles in timed relationto catch and hold the threads and form loops therein as the needlesretract upwardly through the fabric web. Thus, for each down and returnstroke of a row of needles, a row of loops is formed on the underside ofthe fabric web, and succeeding rows form a closely looped pile surface.By providing two or more staggered rows of needles the loops may beformed as closely adjacent laterally as desired.

In a machine of this type, it is essential that the needles,

the grating bars and the picker arms be accurately aligned with eachother with extreme precision, because otherwise wear on the needles andbreakage of the threads occurs. Moreover, the needles must be mountedwith their points in one plane to produce loops of uniform depth. It hasbeen attempted to drill a row of accurately spaced holes in a needlemounting bar for mounting the needles, but it is practically impossibleto drill a row of any substantial length of holes with suflicientlyaccurate spacing to match up with a row of picker arms to prevent wearon the needles and breaking of the threads. Furthermore, when it isdesired to change the gauge or spacing of the needles to meet traderequirements, it becomes a laborious and time-consuming operation tochange the needle mounting bars, and to replace and line up grating barsand picker arms on the same gauge.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a machine whichovercomes the foregoing diflicultie's by providing sectional needlemounting bars, grating bars and picker arm holding bars of the sameexact lengths, by removably mounting the sectional bars in accurateregistry with each other, and by mounting the needles in slots which canbe milled in the needle mounting bars with the same gang of accuratelypositioned saws or cutters that are used to cut slots in the grating andslots in the bars for holding the picker arms. Thus the needles, gratingand picker arms are bound to have the same gauge or spacing.

Further objects of the invention include the provision of'a novelconstruction for the needle mounting bars and the locating bar on whichthey are mounted, whereby the needles are accurately mounted with theirpoints in one 'plane and the mounting bars are quickly removable.

' These and other objects are accomplished by the parts, improvementsand arrangements comprising the present 2 invention, a preferredembodiment of which is shown by way of example in the accompanyingdrawings and .de-' scribed in detail herein. Various modifications andchanges in details of construction may be made within the scope of theinvention as defined in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings forming part hereof:

Fig. 1 is a transverse fragmentary sectional view, look ing toward thefront of the improved machine, and show ing a row of needles in raisedposition above registering grating bars and picker arms.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view at right angles to Fig.1 and longitudinally of the fabric web.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view l'ar to Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing theneedle points below thefabric web and the picker arm's catching the thread loops.

Fig. 5 is a similar view, showing the needles retracted to the top ofthe upstroke, with the picker arms still holding the loops. a

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to Fig. 2 showing themanner of removing one of the sectional needle retaining bars from thelocating bar on Which it is mounted. v

Fig. 7 is an inside elevational view of one of the detached needleretaining bars showing the slots for receiving and spacing the needles,as on line 7-7 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged view similar to Fig. 4, showing the needles at thebottom of the downstroke and the picker arms in position to catch theloops. d

Fig. 9' is a rear elevation, looking in the direction of line 9-9, Fig.8.

Fig. 10 is a front elevation, looking in the direction of line 10-10,Fig. 8.

Fig. 11 is an enlarged somewhat schematic plan sectional view as on line11-l1 of Fig. 8, showing the manner of leading the threads to theneedles.

As shown in the drawings, the machine has two rows of needles extendingtransversely of the web and mounted on opposite sides of a transverseneedle locating bar. However, it will be understood that within thescope of the invention, additional locating bars can be provided formounting additional rows of needles. The gauge or spacing of the tworows of needles is identical, but the needles of one row are staggeredwith respect to the other row, so that the rows of loops stitched in thefabric web have one-half the gauge or spacing of the needles.

Referring to Fig. '1, the lower portion of the machine has frame members11 at each side supported by a transverse beam member 12. The shafts 13and 14 (Fig. 2) on which the picker arms are mounted are supported atintervals in brackets 15 resting on the beam 12, and are journaled attheir ends in the frame members 11. Pref erably, the shafts arejournaled in oilless sleeve bearings 16 mounted in tubular bosses 17 onthe frame members 11. A cap 18 having an axial lubricant connection 19is screwed into each boss 17, and an anti' friction thrust bearing 20 isinterposed between cap 18 and the end of the shaft.

As shown in Fig. 2, the frame members 11 have side portions 21 and '22extending transversely of the machine and parallel to the shafts 13 and14. The side and end portions of the frame members 11 form the tableportion of the machine over which the fabric web passes. The inner edgesof the frame side portions 21 and 22 are preferably recessed to provideshoulders or ledges 25 on which the end bars 26 of the grating platesections 21 are supported. I I

The end bars 26 may be secured to the frame side portions 21 and 22 byscrew studs 28, and the upper surfaces of the bars are preferably flushwith the upper surfaces of the side portions 21 and 22. As shown inFigs. 2 and 3, each grating plate section has a plurality of parallelgrating strips 29 extending between the end bars and having their endssecured therein. The spacing or gauge of the strips 29 is uniform andconforms exactly to that of the needles and picker arms to .bedescribed.

The upper portion of'the machine includes a frame 30, the lower portionof which is shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and a series of mounting heads 31depend from and are supported in said frame. Each head journals avertical shaft 32 which supports at its lower end a needle mounting bar33 extending transversely of the machine above the grating plates midwayof the end bars 26. The needle mounting bar may be made in sections,preferably one for each mounting head 31, and the sections. areconnected end to end in abutting relation to form the needle mountingbar 33 extending across the entire machine.

As shown in Fig. 3, each mounting shaft 32in upper and lower bearingsleeves 34 and 35 respectively,.is se curedin the head 31 with a seriesof packing plates 36 between the sleeves. The lower sleeve 35 has abottom flange 37, and set screws 38 extending through the flange andscrewed into the head serve to draw the sleeve against the packingplates, while stop screws 39 limit tightening movement of the sleeve.The bottom end of the shaft has a flanged collar 40 secured thereon by ascrew 41, and the collar fits into a channel 42 on the upper surface ofthe mounting bar 33 while the screw 41 is located in a slot 43 in thelower surface of the bar. Screws .44 on each side of the collar secureit to the needle mounting bar 33.

As bestshown in Fig. 6, the needle mounting bar 33 has a rib 45 on eachside, and the ribs extend the full length of the bar. The lower surfacesof these ribs form'shoulders against which the upper ends of the needles46A and 46B are abutted to locate all the needle points in one plane.Needle retaining bars 47 are clamped against opposite sides of themounting bar 33 by a series of spaced screws 48 threaded into tappedholes 49 in the ribs 45 (Fig. 2). The needle retaining bars arepreferably in sections having the same identical length as the gratingplate sections 27, and are clamped on the needle mounting bar 33 in endto end abutting relation.

Referring to Figs. 6 and 7, the needle retaining bars 47 are provided atlongitudinal intervals with holes 48' for receiving the screws 48, andwith longitudinal grooves 45' on their inner surfaces for fitting overthe ribs 45 on the mounting bar 33. Vertical slots 50 for receiving theneedles extend from the grooves 45' downwardly to the bottom edge ofeach bar, and these slots have precisely the same gauge or spacing asthe strips 29 in the grating plates. Between adjacent slots 50 at thebottom edge of the bar 47 are inwardly directed clamping fingers 51having angularly upwardly extending terminal portions 52 which fit intogrooves 53 on the bottom of mounting bar 33. Preferably these fingersare formed originally as a continuous rib on the bar 47, and the slots50 are then milled through the rib and into the inner surface of the bar47 by a gang of accurately spaced saws or cutters. Thus, as the screws55 are tightened against the needles, the clamping fingers 51 hold thebars 47 against the mounting bar 33. V v

Referring to Fig. 6, the terminal portions 52 are slightly beveled toform clearance angles with the grooves 53, and adjacent to the fingers51 the ribs between grooves 50 are similarly beveled at 54 to provideclearance angles with the lower corners of bar 33. As a result when thescrews 48 are removed the terminal bars 47 are easily removed from themounting bar 33 by rotating the bars outwardly and downwardly in thedirection of the arrow in Fig. 6.

The needles 46A and 46B are held in the slots 50 and clamped tightlyagainst the mounting bar by headless set screws 55 screwed through theterminal bars against the needles. As shown, the portions of the needlesin the slots are flatted so that the set screws 55 hold them properlyoriented on their axes. As indicated in Fig. 11, the exposed portion ofeach needle has a thread groove 56 on one side, and the eye of theneedle is at the bottom of said groove. The grooves 56 of needles 46Aare turned in one direction laterally of the machine, and preferably,the grooves of needles 46B are turned in the opposite direction.

Thread guide strips 58 are fastened on the bottom edges of the needleretaining bars by screws 59, and have outwardly extending inclinedflanges provided with rows of thread guide holes 60 on the same spacingas the needles 46A and 46B. Similar thread guide strips 61 are fastenedto opposite sides of the upper frame portion 30. The threads orfilaments T pass individually from feed rolls located above the frame 30through the guide strips 61 and 58 to the several needles, as shown inFigs. 2 and 8-11.

Suitable and well-known means for vertically reciprocating the mountingshafts 32 to force the needles through a web of fabric W supported onthe grating bars, are mounted within the upper frame portion, and formno part of the present invention. It is suificient to state that theshafts may be reciprocated at the rate of 1500 strokes or more perminute, and the needles penetrate the web to a predetermined distancebelow the same. Obviously the needle retaining bars 47 are locatedaccurately on the mounting bar 33 so as to be positioned over the slotsbetween adjacent grating strips 29, so that the needles will passbetween the strips without contacting them.

The picker arms, for catching and holding the thread loops below the webare carried on the shafts 13 and 14. The arms 63A cooperate with needles46A and arms 63B cooperate with needles 46B. As shown in Fig. 3, thepicker arms are spaced on the same gauge as the needles, and since theneedles 46B are staggered with respect to the needles 46A, the gratingstrips 29 may be spaced on one-half the gauge of the picker arms andneedles.

The picker arms 63A are held in vertical slots in picker arm holding barsections 64A of the same exact length as the needle retaining barsections 47 and the grating plate sections 27. The arms may be held inthe slots by set screws 65 having washers 66 overlapping two of the armsso that each set screw holds two arms. The slots for the arms may be cutwith the same gang of saws or cutters used to cut the slots 50 in theneedle retaining bars so that exact registry between the arms andneedles is obtained.

The bar sections 64A are secured by screws 67 in a longitudinal groovein an arm mounting bar 68A which is keyed into the top of shaft 13 andsecured thereto by screws 69. Similarly, the shaft 14 has an armmounting bar 683 secured thereon, and holding bar sections 64B securedon the mounting bar. The picker arms 63B have a different shape at theirupper ends than arms 63A to position them at the proper locationrelative to the needles 46B. Otherwise, the construction and mounting ofthe picker arms 63B is identical with arms 63A.

The shafts 13 and 14 are oscillated on their axes by suitable means (notshown) in timed relation to the movement of the needles, so that eachtime the needles 46A and 46B reach the bottom of their stroke, thepicker arms 63A and 63B will swing upwardly past the closed sides of theneedle points and catch the threads passing through the eyes of theneedles. Referring to Figs. 8-11, when the needles have reached thebottom of their stroke, the picker arms swing in past the closed sidesof the needles above the threads issuing from the needle eyes. Now, asthe needles move upwardly the points of the arms catch the threads andform loops therein as indicated at L. As the needles retract, the

. fabric web W moves through the machine past the needles and the pickerarms swing clockwise (Fig.8) to release one pair of loops and to be inposition to catch the next part.

The threads T are brought to the open or grooved sides of the needles46A and 46B from thread guide holes 60 spaced laterally outward of theopen side of the needles. In other words, the thread T for a needle 46A,as shown in Fig. 11, is brought to the open side of the needle from aguide hole 60 spaced laterally outwardly preferably five holes from thehole 60 directly opposite the needle. The thread T for a correspondingneedle 46B is brought to the open side of the needle from a guide holespaced the same distance from the needle in the laterally oppositedirection relative to the needle 46A. By bringing the threads to theneedles from thread guides spaced laterally outwardly thereof, wear onthe threads due to rubbing across the open sides of the needles isminimized, as compared with the rubbing which would occur if the threadswere brought to the needles from guide holes directly opposite thereto.By turning the grooved sides of the needles 46A and 463 in oppositedirections the .thread or yarn T for both rows of needles. can be yarnwhich is twisted in the same direction. If the rows of needles were bothturned the same way, and yarn twisted in one direction were used, theyarn would become untwisted as it passed into one or the other rows ofneedles. As shown in the drawings the width of the needle mounting baris such that rows of needles are spaced apart a substantial distanceequivalent to several adjoining loops L.

The novel construction of the needle retaining bar sections enablesaccurately conforming the spacing of the needles with that of the pickerarms and grating plate strips to obtain perfect alignment of the severalelements. Moreover, by making the needle retaining bar sections, thegrating plate sections, and the picker arm holding bar sections the sameexact lengths, and mounting them removably in end to end abuttingrelation, it will be seen that these elements are accurately alignedwith each other as they are assembled on their mounting bars, so as tominimize wear on the needles by misalignment of the grating plates orpicker arms. Also, the overall length of the rows of needles and pickerarms can be varied while maintaining accurate alignment throughout.

Furthermore, if it is desired to change the gauge of the loops beingformed, the needle bar sections, grating plate sections, and picker armbar sections are easily replaced with those of the desired gauge.

What is claimed is:

1. In a loop fabric stitching machine having a table top portion forsupporting a moving fabric web, a vertically reciprocable needlemounting bar extending transversely above said table top, anoscillatable picker arm mounting bar extending transversely below thetable top, needle retaining bar sections of uniform length removablysecured end-to-end on said needle mounting bar and having slots spacedon a uniform gauge for accurately positioning a row of needles, needlesmounted in said slots, picker arm holding bar sections of lengths equalto said needle bar sections, removably secured endto-end on said pickerarm mounting bar and having picker arm slots spaced on said gauge, andpicker arms removably mounted in said slots for cooperating with saidneedles to form thread loops on the underside of a fabric web passingover said table top.

2. In a loop fabric stitching machine having a table top portion forsupporting a moving fabric web, a vertically reciprocable needlemounting bar extending transversely above said table top, anoscillatable picker arm mounting bar extending transversely below thetable top, needle retaining bar sections of uniform length removablysecured end-to-end on said needle mounting bar and having slots spacedon a uniform gauge for accurately positioning a row of needles, needlesmounted in said slots, grating plate sections removably mountedendto-end on said table top for supporting the fabric 'web and havingslots through which the needles reciprocate, picker arm holding barsections of lengths equal to said needle bar sections removably securedend-to-endon said picker arm mounting bar and having picker arm slotsspaced on said gauge, and picker arms removably mounted in said slotsfor cooperating with said needles to form thread loops on the undersideof a fabric Web passing over said table top.

3. In a loop fabric stitching machine having a table top for supportinga moving fabric web, a vertically reciprocable needle mounting barextending transversely above said table top and having a shoulderextending lengthwise along an exterior surface of the bar, needleretaining bar sections removably secured end-to-end on said exteriorsurface along said shoulder and having uniformly spaced slots on theirinner surfaces for retaining needles with their upper ends abutting saidshoulder, means for clamping needles in said slots, grating platesections equal in length to said needle bar sections removably mountedend-to-end on said table top for supporting the fabric web and havingslots through which the needles reciprocate, an oscillatable picker armmounting bar extending transversely below said grating plate sections,picker arm holding bar sections removably mounted end-to-end on saidpicker arm mounting bar, and uniformly spaced picker arms removablymounted on said picker arm bar sections for cooperating with saidneedles to form thread loops on the underside of a fabric web passingover said grating plate sections.

4. In a loop fabric stitching machine having a table top for supportinga moving fabric web, a vertically reciprocable needle mounting barextending transversely above said table top and having a shoulderextending lengthwise along an exterior surface of the bar, needleretaining bar sections removably secured end-to-end on said exteriorsurface along said shoulder and having uniformly spaced slots on theirinner surfaces for retaining needles with their upper ends abutting saidshoulder, needles mounted in said slots, means for clamping said needlesbetween the exterior surface of said mounting bar and the needleretaining bar sections, and uniformly spaced picker arms oscillatablymounted below said table top to cooperate with said needles to formthread loops on the underside of a fabric web passing over said tabletop.

5. In a loop fabric stitching machine having a table top for supportinga moving fabric web, a vertically reciprocable needle mounting barextending transversely above said table top and having a bottom groove,a shoulder extending lengthwise along an exterior surface of the bar, aneedle retaining bar section removably mounted on said exterior surfacealong said shoulder and having inwardly directed angular clampingfingers extending into said bottom groove, said retaining bar havinguniformly spaced slots on its inner surface for receiving needles,needles in said slots, and set screws for clamping said needles betweensaid mounting bar exterior surface and said needle retaining barsection.

6. In a loop fabric stitching machine having a table top for supportinga moving fabric web, a vertically reciprocable needle mounting barextending transversely above said table top, needle retaining barsections removably mounted along opposite sides of said bar for mountingtwo parallel rows of needles transversely of the web, said sectionshaving uniformly spaced slots on their inner surfaces, the slots on oneside of said mounting bar being staggered relative to the slots on theother side, needles in the slots having grooves on one side and eyes atthe bottoms of the grooves, the grooves in one row of needles beingturned in one direction and the grooves in the other row being turned inthe opposite direction, thread guides on said needle bar sections forguiding threads into said grooves, and uniformly spaced picker armsoscillatably mounted below said table top for swinging past the closedsides of said needles to form thread loops on the underside of a fabricweb passing over said table top.

7. In a loop fabric stitching machine having a table top for supportinga moving fabric web, a vertically reciprocable needle mounting barextending transversely above said table top, needle retaining barsections removably mounted end-to-end along opposite sides of said barfor mounting two parallel transverse rows of needles staggered withrespect to each other, said sections having uniformly spaced slots ontheir inner surfaces, needles in the slots, means for clamping saidneedles against said needle mounting bar, a shoulder on said bar forabutting the upper ends of said needles to locate their points in oneplane, grating plate sections equal in length to said needle barsections removably mounted end-to-end on said table top and having slotsthrough which the needles reciprocate, oscillatable picker arm mountingbars extending in parallel relation transversely below said gratingbars, picker arm holding bar sections equal in length to said needle barsections mounted end-to-end on said picker arm mounting bar, anduniformly spaced picker arms on said holding bar sections forcooperating one with each needle to form thread loops on the undersideof a fabric web passing over said grating plate sections.

8. In a loop fabric stitching machine having a table top for supportinga moving fabric web, a vertically reciprocable needle mounting barextending transversely above said table top, needle retaining barsections removably mounted end-t'o-e1'1d along opposite sides of saidbar for mounting two parallel transverse rows of needles staggered withrespect to each other, said sections having uniformly spaced slots ontheir inner surfaces, needles in the slots, means for clamping saidneedles against said needle mounting bar, a shoulder on said bar forabutting the upper ends of said needles to locate their points in oneplane, oscillatable picker arm mounting bars extending in parallelrelation transversely below said table top, picker arm holding barsections equal in length to said needle bar sections mounted end-to-endon said picker arm mounting bar, and uniformly spaced picker arms onsaid holding bar sections for cooperating one with each needle to formthread loops on the underside of a fabric web passing over said tabletop.

References Cited in the file of patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,071,249Martin Aug. 26, 1913 1,551,996 McCann Sept. 1, 1925 1,974,887 ZofnassSept. 25, 1934 2,319,829 Russell May 25, 1943 2,411,267 Hamrick Nov. 19,1946 2,423,605 McCutchen July 8, 1947 2,679,218 Jones May 25, 19542,768,593 Lombard Oct. 30, 1956

